We’ve seen “love locks” in many places but here the Panama City skyline makes for a dramatic backdrop.
Hundreds of colorful hanging hats along La Calle De Los Sombreros (Hat Street).
The Paseo de las Bóvedas, is a series of arched trellises covered in beautiful bougainvillea creating a tunnel of flowers.
Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Casco Viejo as viewed from the Tantalo rooftop bar.
Traditional dance performed for the tourists in Cathedral Plaza.
Pictured above is the Memorial to the Panama Canal workers. The French began construction in 1881, but failed due to disease and engineering issues. The U.S. completed the canal in 1914. Over 25,000 workers died during its construction, largely from yellow fever and malaria. There was also an outstanding Panama Canal museum located in the Old Town area.
Colorful mural near the fish market.
The old and the new – Women in traditional dress using cell phones.
We had a great sloth encounter in the Metropolitan Natural Park located within city limits.
Turtles sunning at the Metropolitan Natural Park.
Hummingbird in the Metropolitan Natural Park.
We also saw and especially heard mantled howler monkeys.
This is an Agouti. It is from the rodent family but only has a short stubby tail. It was about the size of a small Chihuahua.
This is a Coati which we have seen in different places in Central and South America. They are raccoon like but with fluffy tails and pointed snouts.
This is an anteater, more specifically a Northern Tamandua. I have only seen one other anteater in our travels and even though this was taken from the window of our tour van it was still pretty cool to see.
On our boat ride on Gatun Lake this ship passed us near the Pacific entrance and we later watched it pass through the locks into the Atlantic.
Here the tugboats guide the ship into the 1st of 3 locks.
Playa Venao
Sunset in Playa Venao
The surfers taking advantage of some early morning waves.
Sunrise in Playa Venao
This plant is a sensitive plant, also widely known as touch-me-not, shameplant, or locally in Panama and Central America as dormilona (“sleepyhead”)
We’ve learned that when we see hibiscus flowers we usually are going to be in for good weather
Banana tree
This butterfly is a zebra mosaic also commonly known as the mosaic butterfly.
Scarlet Macaws are native to Panama but their numbers are dwindling. This one roams free but was raised at this eco-resort we visited and so tends to stay close by
My bird expert says this bird is a crested oropendola – a large, striking member of the New World blackbird and oriole family.
This bird is a great kiskadee, a large, bold tyrant flycatcher that is abundant across open habitats along the Pacific coast of Panama.
This bird is a snowy egret, a medium-sized white heron that is common year-round along the Pacific coast of Panama.
This is either the painted ghost crab or the gulf ghost crab – as juveniles they look identical. It’s a pretty effective camouflage as I almost stepped on it during our walk on the beach.
This is a yellow-bellied sea snake and it is extremely venomous. Bites are rare because the snake is non-aggressive and has very small fangs. They live in the ocean and are pretty helpless on land. This one was washed up by an evening storm.
This is a Geoffroy’s spider monkey, also commonly known as the black-handed spider monkey.
Howler monkey and baby. We saw and heard lots of Howlers during our stay.
